Toxic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene and xylene are used in a number of environments as solvents. For example, in the pathology departments of hospitals, such aromatic hydrocarbons are used as solvents to strip away residual paraffin wax from tissue samples that have been solidified and subsequently thin-layered with a microtome. Paraffin is used by the laboratories to stabilize specimens prior to thin layering the samples. These solvents, once dirty or contaminated, must be disposed. Disposal problems are numerous in that such solvents exhibit high vapor pressure and are thus flammable. In addition, they cannot be landfilled because they are listed as EPA pollutants and they cannot be introduced into the sewer system because they are insoluble in water and are potentially toxic carcinogens. Lastly, such solvents are potentially explosive and trace amounts of these materials have been associated with mammalian cell changes.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a method of conveniently disposing of toxic solvents.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a means of disposing of toxic solvents as a solid block of plastic material capable of either being appropriate for landfill deposit or, alternatively, incineration.
These and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.